Katherine cleared her thoughts and brought her eyes to Dracon. The latter stopped in mid-air, his expression nonchalant though with a hint of seriousness in his eyes.
"Do you still want to target this child!?" Katherine asked.
BANG
The air around her churned before violently exploding into the sky, turning into a frightening curtain that was half black and half white. Billowing energy ripples surged out of it, radiating a force that resembled both life and death!
If one looks carefully, they could see the outline of a gate on the curtain!
Life \u0026 Death Gate!
Dracon eyed Zed for a moment before replying, "Naa. I have lost interest."
After saying this, he turned into a prismatic beam of light and shot into the distance, disappearing on the horizon.
Heather was pleasantly surprised by his refusal to engage in a battle. She gazed at Katherine with reverence.
Katherine was also glad Dracon stepped back. Had they battled, she wasn’t sure who would win...
Shaking her head, she glanced at the razed ground where the villa used to. It was charred, filled with cracks and fissures.
"Zed," Katherine gazed at him and said. "Why don’t you stay with us for some days?"
Some distance away, Heather was pleased. She knew he wouldn’t accept her help due to his strained relationship with her mistress, but Katherine was different. There was no animosity or resentment!
Zed opened his lips to refuse. But before he could, Katherine added, "What happened here was partly mine and Sophia’s fault... so please, give me a chance to make up for it."
Sophia was startled.
How were they responsible for this?
Zed looked at Katherine for some time before nodding.
"Thank you."
He politely expressed his gratitude.
Katherine let out a sigh in relief.
Zed, in the meantime, turned towards Heather.
"You have my gratitude for what you did today," Zed said, his voice calm. "Most likely you did it at the behest of Rebecca but nevertheless, I owe you for this."
Heather didn’t reply.
Him calling her mistress name directly instead of addressing her as mother made her heart heavy. There was so much she wanted to say, but she couldn’t.
✻✻✻✻✻
Half an hour later.
Zed sat in the mansion Katherine had reserved for herself and her daughter. It was on the border of the city, and one of the few properties that survived when Extermination fought the three Alphas.
The servants provided him a set of clothes and other necessary items. His storage ring had exploded so he literally didn’t have anything left.
"Only two more days..."
He thought as he took a shower. The fall of cold water on his face helped him calm down...
An hour later.
Katherine invited him for lunch.
As the servants served dishes, he noticed Sophia was downcast, her mood bitter. Surprised, he asked, "What’s wrong?"
Sophia looked at him and said, "You are too much of a good guy! Why didn’t you blame me for what I did?!"
After they arrived here, she had asked Katherine what she meant when she said they were responsible for the crisis Zed faced. Katherine explained her in details and that left her in a state of shock.
Based on her interactions with Zed in Desolate Blood Forest, especially what he did during the trials when he took "precautions", she was sure Zed was more than smart. There was no way he wouldn’t know she was responsible for the mess he was in, and yet, he never showed any anger, much less blame her.
Why does he have to be so good to her?
No! Not only her but also to those who hated him! There was Carmen, Launcelot, and so many others whom he helped in the forest despite the antagonistic relationship!
"Because you aren’t at fault despite what you might believe," Zed answered with a smile. "So unless you want me to blame you of something you aren’t responsible for, I don’t see why you should be downcast."
"!" Sophia was stunned by his reply and as was her mother.
"But it was me who told my family which was..." Sophia started.
"Not really," Zed cut her off in between. "There are many survivors from the core region and I’m pretty sure most of them would have noticed what you did. You wouldn’t share what you consider as my secrets, unlike most of them. So you didn’t really do anything, except for bringing your wonderful mom to help me! So I think I should be thanking you!"
Sophia broke into a smile.
She had blamed herself and his response made her worries disappear.
Katherine was amazed by his response. She noticed her daughter smiling and this made her cherry-colored lips gleam with charm.
"You are really too kind," Katherine said as her beautiful lips stretched into a sweet smile. "Sophia was right!"
Zed was tranced by her smile.
She was gorgeous just like her daughter, especially those innocent eyes that carried softness like water...
Desires that his alter ego was known for erupted in his heart.
But he easily suppressed them with control.
"No, it is you two who are far too kind," Zed replied with a gentle smile. "I was only being honest and that’s not kindness."
Katherine disagreed for she knew everything he had done to help others, both in the forest and the city. Throughout the globe, not even a handful of people were capable of doing what he did.
And yet, he suffered today. He might disagree but some of it was their fault. At the very least, they sort of acted as a catalyst.
"What happened with me recently was for good," Zed continued with the smile. "So you two shouldn’t feel bad for me."
Th1s chapter is updated by n)ovel/\bin/\
"Good?!" Sophia was startled.
How can facing a deathly crisis be considered as good!?
"Well, in the last four years, I had become far too complacent..." Zed answered. "What happened in the last few days provided me with a heavy dose of reality so it is for good."
Before he fused with the Cosmic Spark, he was a survivalist. He was always on guard, training what little power he had to perfection and ready to tackle any situation with both wits and strength.
But afterward?
The Cosmic Spark made him so overpowered that he became lazy. He never bothered to train despite the extraordinary abilities he gained.
But then again, he never felt the need to do so... until recently.
Sophia was awestruck by his words.
Her misty blue eyes sparkled with respect as she once again turned towards her mother and exclaimed, "Mom! You were right again! A great person doesn’t despair from a crisis! Rather he sees it as an opportunity to evolve!"
Katherine’s cheeks flushed by constant praise from her daughter...
✳✳✳✳✳
House of Hestia.
"Well, this works as well!" Xalion said as he read the report. "Dracon not completing his second part of the mission due to Katherine is rather good for the plan!"
Lord Harley nodded while observing the virtual images of the place where Dream Rise House used to be.
"Everything is working as we wanted."
Lord Harley grinned.
The mission of Dracon was never to kill or cripple Zed.
Rather it was to check whatever backup Zed had... and verify if it had the strength to face an Alpha. That wasn’t the only objective though.
It was to also destroy his safe haven and make him terrified so that he would have no choice but to seek help, or risk death!
With multiple factions eyeing Zed as a prey, the actions of Dracon would be considered as an act by other great families. So everything was easy.
"Humans are the most stupid beings! They can be easily swindled by narratives!"
Before the age of evolution, the rulers of mortal countries would often create crises within their own countries. It was in the form of plundering, massacres, assassinations, murders of soldiers, etc.
Obviously, the masses would never even think the rulers could do such a thing. After all, what type of rulers would harm their own subjects!?
So the masses blamed renegades, foreign countries, and so on.
What they didn’t know was that they were duped! Their own thinking wasn’t theirs but rather something cultivated by the rulers!
It was done by the power of narrative!
Since the rulers had the machinery to propagate their views and plant any evidence to fool masses, the narrative was never questioned. Those who dare counter it were labeled as traitors.
As for why the rulers would do such a thing... it was to distract the masses. The distraction could be to make people forget about corruption, power abuse, or any reason that might bring instability to those in power!
The era might have changed, but the techniques of the past still remained.
Lord Harley and Xalion had made enough preparations to sell the narrative they wanted. It would not only help in fooling Rebecca but also in controlling Zed!
At least, that’s what they believed...
✳✳✳✳✳✳
Delta City.
Let’s rewind the time to the moment Dracon left what remained of Dream Rise House.
If not for the risk of another possible Alpha, Dracon would have challenged Katherine and showed her the extent of his true powers. Since he wasn’t sure, he didn’t take the risk.
At lightning speed, he left the city and flew high above the sea, just a few miles away from the adjacent city.
Suddenly, his eyes flickered and he jerked his body back.
The sea below surged out an enormous wave of blood, emanating a dreadful power. It narrowly missed him and crashed into the clouds, creating a spatial crack!
"Aww... why would you dodge it, uncle?"
A feminine voice asked him.
Dracon was dumbstruck for the voice was too close, far too close! It was behind him!
He shot forward at light speed.
"It was a gift and yet you refused it without caring about our feelings!" Another feminine voice erupted, this time from the sea. "Daddy said only evil people hurt others feelings!"
Dracon finally sighted the speakers. They were beautiful women who drifted in the sky with innocent expressions.
Their cute smiles made his heart constrict in shock for he knew them.
"The crazy twins?!"
It was obviously none other than Madison and Lillian!
"Crazy?" Madison looked bewildered as she turned towards her sister. "Could he be calling us crazy?"
"I think so!" Lillian replied.
Tears erupted in Madison’s eyes and she burst up crying. Lillian quickly hugged her and rubbed a hand over her back.
She then turned towards Dracon and said, "You hurt her feelings again! You are really evil!"
Evil?!
Dracon retreated.
He didn’t fear anyone but he dreaded these two! Because they were the actual evils!
No mutant would kill or destroy without a reason.
But not these two! They would massacre entire towns just for fun!
They were completely insane!
And facing an insane opponent was suicide! Especially when there were two of them, and that too Alphas!!